Finally, did vavle clearance check - first time at 30k

[IG.]

I was a bit uneasy. I've done it only once on Katana 600 - years ago.

Short version - everything is in spec: all IN valves - 0.15 mm (range 0.1 - 0.2), and all EX valves - 0.23 mm (range 0.2 - 0.3).

All valves are covered with some crap. I almost panicked, but then did a search, and realized that was normal. Already got a bottle of Red Line fuel cleaner from ebay.

Cleaned throttle bodies - there was some gunk around the plates on the walls - and I think it made the throttle a bit sticky at initial opening. Carb cleaner worked well.

BTW, thanks to Jinkster for great shots and explanations. Service manual pictures suck. And what the heck does this mean: "Turn the crank in the normal engine direction" or something along those lines? Like when you have it apart, how do you know which one - idiots! Again, thanks to Jinkster for simply saying "CLOCKWISE".

I set up my laptop, and was typing in everything I was removing, so it was easy to reverse the sequence, and to make sure I don't forget to re-connect something. Now I can use that sequence when I do it next time.

Nothing ever works as it supposed to, right? Throttle bodies came off along with the boots - I only noticed when it was time to reinstall. A small piece of the plastic inside the boot was broken off - luckily small enough.

The cover gasket stuck to the engine on both sides of exhaust cam shaft. I had a new one, but the old one looked like new - so I figured I'll re-use it. Same for the gaskets around spark plug holes - they looked good, and were stuck to the cover.

Putting the cover back was somewhat challenging because I had to make sure it mated with the gasket.

Finally, after all is re-connected, and the bike started and seemed to idle normally - the feeling of relief. Checked for oil leaks - so far OK. I will probably pull the airbox and the coils and take a peek into spark plug holes to make sure there is no oil leak there.

Well, that was my last maintenance step. Previously, rebuilt both front and rear calipers, oil/filter change, lubed cables, installed air horn.

Whew! Now it's time to ride!

 

[BusaWizard]

Good job.

 

[1340]

That's good to hear man. Quality of the materials is getting better for Suzuki. How hard do you ride it?

 

[dadofthree]

Finally, after all is re-connected, and the bike started and seemed to idle normally - the feeling of relief. Checked for oil leaks - so far OK. I will probably pull the airbox and the coils and take a peek into spark plug holes to make sure there is no oil leak there.

Well, that was my last maintenance step. Previously, rebuilt both front and rear calipers, oil/filter change, lubed cables, installed air horn.

Whew! Now it's time to ride!

You'll know if the center gasket leaks. Weep holes near the exhaust ports on the head will leak oil.

 

[pcosho]

Lets see some pics of that air horn. I'm honestly thinking about installing a train horn mod. I'm gettin real tired of peeps not payin attention when they are driving!

 

[x-d-x]

Good job bro and a train horn? whew if you accidentally hit the horn button it would probably make you fly ten feet up in the air.

 

[IG.]

That's good to hear man. Quality of the materials is getting better for Suzuki. How hard do you ride it?

Well, I am not babying her on the street, and did many track days. Amazingly, how consistent the clearance is for all valves. I remember, years ago when I was doing my Katana 600, the clearances were all over the place among different valves (but on the same side IN vs. EX).

 

[IG.]

Good job bro and a train horn? whew if you accidentally hit the horn button it would probably make you fly ten feet up in the air.

LOL, I had to notify the whole family prior to testing in the garage. It's pretty bad when you are next to it. However, if you are a few walls apart, it's not that loud. Cetainly better than any electrical horn.

I installed a separate switch so I can disconnect the air horn easily - for whatever reason.

It's Ear Cannon - you all have seen how it looks like. The challenge was to find a place where to mount it. A while back, I read hear on H.ORG that someone placed the horn on the left side of the tail, where the opening is. I ended up doing the same.

I separated the compressor from the horn itself, and cut the pieces of plastic which held the compressor, and also ground the metal piece from the compressor intended to for the holding screw. Otherwise, I just couldn't fit it in.

Initially, I thought I would place the compressor somewhere in the tail, and connect it to the horn via a plastic tube. But then I managed to squeeze everything on the left side - barely fit. So, I ended up with the horn assembled back together and located next to the heat sink from the rectifier. The black piece of plastic which was partially covering the hole on the left side of the tail section is gone.

The tail is back on, so the only picture I can take is how it looks from the outside - which is basically this: the "mouth" of the double horn and a part of the compressor are visible.

While I was there, I also drilled some holes in the tail housing so that the sound from my Scorpio alarm can escape easier.

 

[IG.]

Lets see some pics of that air horn. I'm honestly thinking about installing a train horn mod. I'm gettin real tired of peeps not payin attention when they are driving!

It's far from being a train horn - just a decent air horn, and a compact at that. You are right about accidnetally hitting the button. It's a monster compared to my aftermarket electrical horn, not to mention the stocker.

 

[jellyrug]

All valves are covered with some crap. I almost panicked, but then did a search, and realized that was normal. Already got a bottle of Red Line fuel cleaner from ebay.

You talking about build-up on your cylinder head valves, valve spring side, below the cam followers??

Or are you talking about throttle body valves?

 

[IG.]

You'll know if the center gasket leaks. Weep holes near the exhaust ports on the head will leak oil.

Well, I don't want to wait. I idled the bike for good 10 - 15 min, and already inspected the outer edge of the cover all around, and all seems dry. I will go for a short ride, come back, will pull the plugs and peek in the spark plug holes.

 

[880jedi]

Is it safe to say 30K is too soon to do a valve adjustment? I just find it hard to tear down the engine if no symptoms are present. My Busa has 72K and I haven't done the job yet, and it runs great.

 

[IG.]

Is it safe to say 30K is too soon to do a valve adjustment? I just find it hard to tear down the engine if no symptoms are present. My Busa has 72K and I haven't done the job yet, and it runs great.

I'd say you are pushing your luck. This is the kind of thing where you don't wait for symptoms. If you get symptoms and it turns out you burned your vavles/seats, then it will get significantly more expensive to fix that rather than to check/adjust clearance.

What happens is that the valve gradually sinks into its seat in the block so over time the valve stem with the tappet on top of it goes higher and higher out until it gets too close to the cam. At this point, your out-of-spec valve opens earlier than needed and closes later than it should.

For intake valve, this means some blow-by hot gases may come back into the intake. For the exhaust valves, this means that compressed gas after the explosion may leave the combustion chamber a bit early which may result in loss of power. I also suspect that the exhaust valves (and probably intake valves) and their seats will start wearing at accelerated rate - and that is an expensive proposition for later on.

If you stay at low rpm most of the time, you are likely to be within spec or on the border line. But it has to be done - you or someone else. I'd say it would be an unreasonable chance to take by not doing it. I was also postponing this for a long time, but finally pushed myself to do it.